About this book

This book is the first comprehensive overview in the English language of Belgian Planning and Urban Development. As such it satisfies a void in the planning literature about developments in a unique and increasingly important country of northwest Europe. Belgium and its capital, Brussels, are the administrative heart of an emerging European Community. The physical impact of this administrative centrality will be enormous -- especially for Brussels. The planning response to these new functions by the Belgian government and people is given great attention by several of the authors of this book. The book also describes the unique cultural and political circumstances of Belgium, a nation which combines both Latin and Germanic cultural strains. The impact of linguistic divisions on the content of planning legislation and the content of planning is another major theme of the book. The special issues of urban development in Brussels and Antwerp, the nation's two largest cities, are discussed as well as the planning issues of smaller cities including Brugge with its vast historic patrimony, Liege and Louvain-la-Neuve, a new academic town for the French-speaking segment of the population.